Galatians 3:22 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

NIV: But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

NASB: But the Scripture has confined everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

CSB: But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin's power, so that the promise might be given on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe.

NLT: But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.

KJV: But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

NKJV: But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

It would be understandable if someone reading Galatians, to this point, would be confused. Paul has written about the law in a way that might suggest to an outsider that he means the law in itself is somehow evil. With all of his talk about the promises made to Abraham becoming available to everyone through faith in Christ, is he saying that the law was a pointless diversion? Paul clarifies, in the previous verse, that he was not saying that, using a potent phrase: "Kill that idea!" He is showing that God meant all along for the law to show, in part, that human beings cannot keep God's law (Galatians 3:21). Why? We are sinful, and knowing what God wants us to do cannot keep us from doing it. We continue to sin.

In other words, the law cannot give eternal life because no human being can keep the law perfectly. We all break it. The law shows us that we cannot escape our own sin. We are all in prison "under sin," and the law can offer only condemnation. It does not provide a way out. So what is the way out? It comes only through the promise given to Abraham and received by Christ. Those who believe in Christ "by faith" receive the promise, too. Paul will go on to show how receiving that promise, along with Christ, provides for the forgiveness of and escape from our sin.

Galatians 3:15–22 begins with Paul making a legal argument about God's covenant with Abraham. This arrangement remained in place even during the later covenant of the law of Moses. Paul follows this by describing what the point of the law really is. It was given both to show what is sinful, and to show how sinful we are. By the law, we learn that we are not able to keep to God's standard and must be saved in another way. That other way is through faith in Christ. Once He arrived, this salvation was available to all people, including non-Jewish Gentiles.

Paul indicates the Galatian Christians are foolish for believing they need to follow the law of Moses to be right with God. He offers three specific arguments to support this. First, they received God's Spirit in a powerful way after believing in Jesus, but before doing any works of the law. Second, Scripture itself shows God's blessing coming by faith, and His curse coming by the law. Christ paid the price of that curse on the cross. Third, God's covenant with Abraham is like a legal document, and it cannot be revoked.

In Galatians chapter 2, Paul declared that we can only be justified—''made right with God''—by faith in Christ and not by following the law of Moses. In chapter 3, Paul offers three arguments for why that is true. He argues from the Galatians own experience, from the Scriptures themselves, and from the legal standpoint of a covenant contract. Finally, Paul answers what the law is for if it cannot save us from our sin. In part, it reveals our sinfulness and convinces us of our need to be saved by faith in Christ. The following chapter will expand on what it means to be an ''heir,'' spiritually.

Galatians is sometimes called “a short Romans” for its similar themes of justification and sanctification through faith. A group of Christians known as “Judaizers” were preaching a gospel of legalism, rather than grace. Paul’s main purpose in writing the letter to the Galatians was to reiterate the true nature of the gospel: we are justified (made righteous) and sanctified (made more Christlike) through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. This letter was probably written shortly before the church elders in Jerusalem issued their official refutation of the Judaizers, commonly called the Jerusalem Council.